


black coffee roses

by toosigoosi



Series: commissions! [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Flower Shop Owner/Barista Yuuri, Fluff, Goth Viktor, M/M, but they're //my// awkward gays, goth AU, they're awkward gays, they're just very cute ;;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 13:50:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14379981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toosigoosi/pseuds/toosigoosi
Summary: Yuuri’s seen plenty of people come through his shop, but he’s never once in his life seen someone like Viktor Nikiforov.***viktor nikiforov misses his bus and stops intoCoffee Greens, the coffee shop/flower shop hybrid owned by yuuri katsuki.





	black coffee roses

**Author's Note:**

> commission for @motherofcakes!

Yuuri had seen plenty of people come through his shop, from overly cheerful pageant moms to sullen backpack-laden teenagers to stone-faced businessmen with a tendency to snap their coffee orders at him. And Yuuri, ever the professional business owner, greeted everyone with a smile and a gentle, “Coming right up!”

Thankfully, it wasn’t too often that he had to work as barista at his shop: Phichit, the saint he was, often took the coffeeshop shifts. Yuuri, on the other hand, tended to work as the florist on the bouquet store side of the shop. He felt more at home surrounded by the plants, tending to them while occasionally interacting with a customer or two. As one would expect, the coffee shop was typically much busier than the bouquet store, but Yuuri didn’t mind the opportunities to be alone with his plants. It helped especially on days when he did have to work as barista, knowing once his shift was over, he could get back to his plants the next day.

Yuuri’s seen plenty of people come through his shop, but he’s never once in his life seen someone like Viktor Nikiforov.

* * *

 Viktor straightened the wide brimmed hand on his head, trying to block out the sun as he made his way down the street from his apartment. It was still early, the sun only barely above the buildings as it climbed into the sky, but Viktor was running late nonetheless. On Mondays, he liked waking up early to go the Starbucks in the city over right when they opened because they typically held off on throwing away old food from the day before, which he would then keep to keep to his pet raven, Makkachin. This morning, however, Viktor had slept through his alarm, which set him back by about an hour.

He stood at the crosswalk, bouncing anxiously from one foot to the other as he waited for the light to change. The bus stop was right across the street, but the last city bus for the morning was making its way closer and closer while Viktor remained trapped on the other side. He willed the light to change, and when it did, he sprinted across the crosswalk, tripping briefly on his cape as he ran. He managed to make it to the bus stop just as the bus was arriving, and he prepared to climb on.

“Two-dollars,” the bus driver drawled, looking Viktor up and down, clearly taken aback by his outfit of a double-breasted vest, thick dark grey scarf, ankle-length cape, wide-brimmed hand, and black circular sunglasses that sat perched on his nose.

Viktor stopped. “ _Two?_ ”

“Yeah, two-dollars for one way,” the driver said.

“It’s normally a dollar seventy-five, isn’t it?” Viktor asked, not bothering to pull out his wallet.

The driver sighed. “For trips before eight, yeah,” he said. “But it’s eight-ten now, so the cost is. _Two. Dollars._ ” He enunciated the last two words, eyes narrowing.

Viktor swallowed, then recomposed himself. “You have to understand, I only have enough to pay a dollar seventy-five—”

“Then _get off my bus_ because you’re holding me up on my route,” the driver snapped. Viktor blinked, taken aback, then took a step back so his foot was no longer on the bottom step. The driver smiled, though it was joyless, and let the doors slide shut. The bus drove away then, leaving Viktor standing on the sidewalk by the bus stop.

“Well, shit,” Viktor huffed, straightening his scarf in an attempt to calm the sudden embarrassed flush painting his face. When he was relaxed, Viktor looked up, searching around for something to do with his spare time. He didn’t need to be at “work”—if one counted sitting at the nearby park while working on his writing as “going to work”—until noon, but he figured there was no point in going back to his apartment since he’d likely end up going to sleep.

As he was looking around, his eyes caught an interesting sign across the street. It was a coffee mug with a bouquet of red flowers spilling out of it. Beneath it in curly script was the name _Coffee Greens_.

Viktor’s interest was piqued enough. He made his way over to the crosswalk, then crossed over the other side. As he came closer, he could clearly see that this place, this _Coffee Greens_ , was a coffee shop but sharing its other side was...a flower shop?

“What an odd combination,” Viktor mused to himself as he came close to the doors. Glancing inside, he could see that the place wasn’t insanely busy, but there were dots of people seated in the coffee shop side, sipping from paper cups or brown mugs. On the florist’s side, there didn’t appear to be as many people, but Viktor couldn’t tell through the wall of standing and hanging plants the blocked his view from outside. Viktor came to the door, pulling it open and stepping inside with  level of flourish that was probably unnecessary. As he prepares to announce himself to the patrons in a sweeping grand fashion, his words die on his tongue when he makes eye contact with the glasses-wearing barista at the counter.

* * *

Yuuri sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. Today was one of his unlucky days in which he had to work as barista while Leo, another one of their employees, worked at the florist’s. Phichit had had an emergency assignment in dire need of finishing and Yuuri had offered to pick up his shift.

Now though, actually working, Yuuri secretly cursed himself for being so willing then to pick up the shift. The day hadn’t been busy, thank goodness, but that meant it had been excruciatingly _slow._ The store had been open for nearly two hours now and he’d only made three drinks, all within the first twenty minutes of the shop opening. He figured it was because it _was_ a Monday, which were notoriously slow days. As he stood at the counter, leaning on one hand and practically asleep, he willed _anything_ interesting to happen in the hopes of making the next six hours go by faster.

Just as Yuuri was preparing to head to the back to look for something to preoccupy himself, the bells above the coffee shop doors tinkled. He scrambled to stand up straight, opening his mouth to say the standard Coffee Greens greeting.

“Hi, welcome to Cof—”

Then his eyes landed on the customer that’s just walked in and Yuuri momentarily forgot how to speak entirely.

The man was dressed... _ridiculously_. Or at least, ridiculously for someone living in a town in the middle July in the middle of a _heatwave_. Yuuri’s eyes first went to the large black cape that cascaded over the man’s shoulders, reaching just above the ground. Next, Yuuri took note of the double-breasted dark grey vest and the scarf that encircled the man’s next like a choker. Then his eyes shot back up to the man’s face and Yuuri noticed the small line of black lipstick—it could’ve only been lipstick—that bisected the man’s bottom lip. Minutely, Yuuri also noticed that the man wore black sunglasses with tiny circular frames perched on his nose. But when Yuuri met this mysterious man’s eyes, he heard his sharp intake of breath before he registered that he’d done it.

The stranger’s eyes were so... _blue._ Icy blue, a shock of color against the dark color of everything else the man was wearing. Yuuri didn’t think he’d ever seen eyes that color before in his life, and he held the man’s gaze for what felt like an eternity, not wanting to look away from those beautifully haunting eyes.

He finally had to when the man was shoved unceremoniously out of the way of the front doors by an aggressive mother, who shot him a dirty look over her shoulder as she walked up to the register. Yuuri finally snapped back into Work Mode, greeting the mother and taking her order. All the while, he would occasionally glance towards the mysterious man, who had moved from the front doors to be closer to the register. Once Yuuri had made the woman her drink and passed it off to her, he returned to the register, ready to speak with the mysterious man.

“Hi, welcome to Coffee G _reens_ ,” Yuuri said, his voice cracking on “greens.” His face flushed then and he swallowed hard. He smiled nervously. “H-How can I help you?”

“Why the name?” the man asked.

Yuuri swayed slightly on his feet when the man spoke. _God,_ he had an accent, what sounded to be Russian. Yuuri wasn’t even sure how he was still standing upright.

“The...name?”

The man pointed to the mat with the shop logo on the counter between the two of them. “‘ _Coffee Greens_.’ It sounds like it’s meant to be a pun or something.”

“Oh! The name! Of the shop!” Yuuri practically yelled. He laughed awkwardly. “Yeah. It’s a play on words. Coffee beans. Coffee _greens_.” He pointed his thumb to the right towards the florist side of the shop. “And, because, we also sell bouquets and flower arrangements. So, it’s ‘greens’ like, like plants.” Yuuri was practically sweating by the end of the way too lengthy explanation, worried that he’d just bored the hell out the beautiful man that had happened to wander in during his one-on-a-million barista shift.

The man smiled. “It’s cute,” he said, white teeth flashing as he spoke. “And clever.” Yuuri released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, then smiled back at the man.

“You can thank my business partner for that,” Yuuri said. “I couldn’t come up with something like that even if I tried. He even came up with the layout of the shop, and—” Yuuri realized too late that he was over-sharing and he rushed to snap his mouth shut, whimpering as he bit his tongue in his haste.

The man kept smiling though, his grin seeming to grow wider once Yuuri cut himself off. “I’ll need to meet this business partner then so I may thank him for his creativity.”

Yuuri nodded, not trusting himself to open his mouth and speak. Then he glanced behind the man and noticed that a small line had begun to form.

“Ah! You haven’t ordered,” Yuuri squawked, jerking to grab a coffee cup from beneath the counter. “What would you like?”

The man exhaled as his eyes flicked up to look at the menu behind Yuuri’s head. “Hmmm...what would you suggest I have?” he asked after only looking for a short second.

“Oh, um...I guess our lattes are pretty good. We can make chai tea lattes, if you don’t like coffee,” Yuuri said without skipping a beat. It was something simple, but it was something he could make in his sleep.

“Then I’ll have a medium chai tea latte, please,” the man said. Yuuri nodded, filling out the order on the side of the cup.

“Name?” Yuuri asked, praying his voice didn’t sound as hopeful as he felt in anticipation of being able to learn this stranger’s name.

“Viktor Nikiforov,” the man said, smiling so wide that Yuuri could see that the man’s mouth had a distinct heart shape to it. He then bowed slightly, sweeping his cape back behind him. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, I just need your first name,” Yuuri said. He then sputtered in laughter as the man— _Viktor_ —shot up, face coloring bright red. “But the theatrics aren’t unappreciated!” he rushed to add, unable to contain his laughter. He wrote Viktor’s name on the cup, using his somewhat crappy cursive handwriting, then set it aside.

“This is just a day full of me embarrassing myself, isn’t it,” Viktor muttered, though he was smiling as he did so.

“That’ll be three twenty-five,” Yuuri said, returning to Work Mode when he noticed the line growing ever longer. Had they really been talking to one another for so long?

Viktor held out his card. Yuuri reached out to take it. In doing so, their fingers briefly brushed, and Yuuri jerked his hand back like he’d been burned. He kept his gaze down as he swiped Viktor’s card then handed it back. He only looked back up when handing Viktor his receipt.

“Have a nice day,” he said, voice a little shaky.

Viktor brought his receipt up to his face, eyes squinting for a moment.

“‘Your cashier today was Yuuri’,” he read off the top of the receipt. He looked Yuuri in the eye, then smiled, lips a heart. “Hello, Yuuri.”

Yuuri was sure he was going to die and go to heaven in that moment. Viktor said his name like the caress of a hand on a cheek, drawing out the _u_ in his name while his tongue seemed to curl around the _r._ It wasn’t _fair_ —How did a complete stranger manage to turn him on while at work just by _saying his name?_

“Your drink will be right up,” Yuuri said.

Viktor smiled then shuffled sideways out of the line to wait by the pickup counter.

Yuuri only had a moment to watch Viktor leave before he was faced with the line of patrons clearly ticked off with their wait.

* * *

Viktor was in love. He was sure of it. Or, at the very least, if he wasn’t in love yet, he would be soon enough.

After ordering his drink, he’d moved over to the pickup counter and sat watching the barista— _Yuuri_ , he now knew—work frantically to take orders from the line of people that had built up while they’d been talking. While he worked, Viktor noticed that his tongue tended to poke through his lips, especially while he was making the drinks. Viktor found it endearing.

When Yuuri had managed to get through the other drinks preceding Viktor’s, Yuuri turned and shot Viktor a look then mouthed “ _sorry_ ” before moving to start on Viktor’s drink. Viktor waved his hand and smiled pleasantly as he watched Yuuri work. He had a sort of rhythm to all of his movements, the practiced ease of someone who knew their way around an area. It was like watching a seasoned dancer snap into performance mode the moment their music started.

“One medium chai tea latte!” Yuuri announced, setting the cup in front of Viktor, startling him for a moment. He’d gotten so wrapped up in watching Yuuri he hadn’t noticed when he’d finished and brought the drink over.

“Ah! Lovely,” Viktor said. He took the cup and brought it up to his mouth, taking a sip to hide his blushing face. In hindsight, Viktor should’ve been prepared for the drink to be hot, especially considering it had only just been made. But Viktor, it turned out, was not a man who relied on his foresight very well.

“Ack!” Viktor yelped, jerking back the cup as the liquid burned his tongue. He slammed the cup down on the counter, then brought his hands up to his mouth, catching the tip between his fingers.

Yuuri busted out laughing. He bent at the waist, clutching his stomach as he laughed. Viktor continued flailing, making loud grunt noises that were mostly from the pain, but partly laughter as well.

“I should’ve warned you that the drink would be hot,” Yuuri said, wiping at tears in the corners of his eyes.

“To be fair,” Viktor says, speaking around the fingers holding his tongue. “I should’ve expected this. But I am an idiot.”

Yuuri laughed again, smiling wide. “Oh stop it, you’re not,” he said, batting the air as if to brush off Viktor’s comment. “If anything, now you’ve learned for next time.”

Viktor’s ears immediately perked up.

“Next time?” he asked, still holding his tongue.

Yuuri snorted once, then looked down. Viktor noticed his face had suddenly turned red, darkest at his cheeks. “Oh, I didn’t mean—” Yuuri stopped himself, looking up. He adjusted his glasses on his face, then cleared his throat. Viktor recognized his fidgeting as the same thing he would do whenever he met with his editor. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have insinuated—”

“I’d love to come back,” Viktor said, finally releasing the tip of his tongue. He smiled. “I still have yet to visit your flower shop. I’m sure I could find plenty of arrangements that my raven would enjoy.”

Suddenly Yuuri’s face dropped, then creased in confusion.

“Did you just say ‘raven’?”

* * *

Yuuri couldn’t explain how exactly he ended up spending ten minutes of his shift—thankfully during one of the less busy times of the day—looking at photos of a raven on a strange Russian man’s phone, but he figured in terms of ways to spend a shift, this wasn’t the worst.

“Her name’s Makkachin,” Viktor said, practically giggling with excitement as he swiped through photo after photo of the black raven. “I’ve had her about two years now, and she’s _incredibly_ smart.” Suddenly, Viktor’s voice dropped to a serious tone. “I fear one day she may figure out how to lock me in my room.”

Yuuri wasn’t sure how to respond, but laughed nervously when Viktor laughed out loud at his own joke.

“You’re allowed to have ravens as pets in this city?” Yuuri asked.

Viktor hummed, a musical sound. “Not many people do, however,” he said. “It’s a shame, really. They’re really great companions.”

Yuuri looked down at the photos on Viktor’s phone, watching him swiping through them, a loose smile on his face.

“I had a dog when I was younger,” Yuuri said. “He lives with my parents now, back in Japan.”

Viktor looked up, his eyes twinkling in wonder. “Oh, what’s his name?”

“V—” Yuuri stopped himself. “ _Er_ , Vicchan. It’s like a nickname?”

“For?”

Yuuri felt the back of his neck break out in a sudden sweat. He wouldn’t— _couldn’t_ tell this guy that he’d _just met_ that his childhood dog had _the exact same name as him_. He couldn’t. _He couldn’t_. _He—_

“Uh, for—for Viktor,” Yuuri said finally. He laughed awkwardly again, waiting for Viktor to give him a weird look, then probably scoop up all his things and leave because of _course_ he will when Yuuri just—

Viktor laughed, but not a laugh with any malice. “What a coincidence,” he said.

Yuuri blinked, staring dumbly at Viktor. “Yeah, it...yeah, it is.”

Viktor lifted his coffee cup to his lips, taking a sip as he resumed swiping through the seemingly endless photos of his raven. Yuuri’s eyes followed the movement of his lips, then the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, then the movement of his tongue as it slipped out to swipe over his lips and—

Yuuri shook his head. _Stop it_.

“Oh jeez,” Viktor said. “It’s pretty late, isn’t it?”

Yuuri glanced over Viktor’s shoulder to the clock on the wall. It was nearly ten, which was a notoriously busy hour, and when Yuuri looked over his shoulder to the front door, he startled at the sight of a short line of customers, all of whom looked decently impatient.

“I have to get back to—to work,” Yuuri said, standing up from leaning on the counter. He wiped his hands on his apron, then adjusted his glasses on his face. “You can...You can stay, you know, if you want. I-I’m not kicking you out or anything, so, _uh_ —”

“I should get going,” Viktor said, smiling warmly. Yuuri immediately relaxed. “I need to be at work soon.”

Yuuri bit his lip to keep from asking about Viktor’s work, choosing to nod instead.

As Viktor picked up his coffee cup, he tapped his fingers on one side. Like he was pondering something.

“I will be back in sometime. To visit your flower shop,” he said after a beat, his tone overly formal. Yuuri suppressed a giggle.

“I’ll on the lookout for a man with a bird on his shoulder,” Yuuri said, smiling.

Viktor opened his mouth as if to say something, but a loud “ _ahem_ ” from the register drew Yuuri’s attention. The line had only gotten longer, the patrons more impatient. He began backing towards the register as he looked back at Viktor.

“I gotta—”

Viktor simply nodded.

As Yuuri came to stand in front of the register, prepared to take the first person’s order, his eyes watched Viktor stride to the door, his cape blowing out behind him. As he came to the door, he spun around, tipped his hat towards Yuuri, then left in what could only be described as a flourish.

The rest of his shift, Yuuri’s thoughts constantly veered back to the memory of Viktor. _Viktor, Viktor, Viktor_. Even when he was closing, Yuuri couldn’t help smiling as he imagined Viktor showing up the next day with an _actual_ raven perched on his shoulder.

Yuuri had seen plenty of strange people come through his shop, but he had _never_ once in his life seen someone quite like Viktor Nikiforov.

**Author's Note:**

> [come hang with me on twitter!](https://twitter.com/toosigoosi) i currently have commissions open, so if you'd like me to write you a piece, DM me!
> 
> if you enjoy, leave a kudos or a comment! i love getting comments and i'll do my best to reply to everyone ! ( ´ ♡ ` )
> 
> (i haven't written YOI in a _hot_ minute, so please go easy on me haha)


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